Serbia team in their last training session before the FIVB Girls’ U18 World Championship

Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, July 23, 2013 - FIVB
Girls U18 World Championship will get underway on Friday with eight matches
taking place in Nakhon Ratchasima at the Chartchai Hall and the Lipatapanlop
Hall.

Hosts Thailad will play their first match against
African Champions, Egypt at 15:00 (local time) at the Chartchai Gym.

The competition is the first to be held with 20 teams.
The Pool A and C matches will be held at the Chartchai Hall, which can seat
5,000 spectators, while the Lipatapanlop Hall with its seating capacity of
2,000 people will host the Pool B and D matches.

The match between Thailand and Egypt will take place after the official opening
ceremony. The following matches are also scheduled for Firday in Chartchai Hall:
Slovenia v Algeria; Brazil v Dominican Republic; and Tunisia v Serbia.

The Lipatapanlop Hall will see Peru meet Mexico and defending
champions Turkey take on Italy, while Poland will meet Greece and Japan will
face China.

Four out of the six previous winners of the Championship
will be taking part in Nakhon Ratchasima, with the record holders Brazil and
China (three crowns each) leading the way, followed by Japan (two titles) and
Turkey (one), while the only absentees from the winners are Russia and Korea.

The opening ceremony will be attended by a number of guests of honour led by Mr
Suwat Lipatapallop (former deputy Prime Minister), Mr Winai Buapradit (Governor
of the Nakhon Ratchasima province) and Mr Sub Lt Ranongruk (President of the
Nakhon Ratchasima Administrative Organisation).

The 20 participating teams are divided into four preliminary pools playing a
round robin tournament, where the top four qualify for the round of 16 and the
teams ranked fifth in their corresponding pool play for the 17th to 20th
positions.

The top four teams of each pool will advance to the knock-out
round where the winners play for the top eight spots and the losers for the 9th
to 16th positions.